Apple Cider Sangria

October 17, 2018

Sangria is a fantastic dinner party drink because it's so unpretentiously pretty — chunks of fresh fruit floating in a luminous wine punch — and so easy to make ahead and share. With sangria, no one gets trapped in the kitchen with the cocktail shaker!

This recipe is as light and refreshing as a summer sangria, but it's filled with fall flavor. We've used seasonal apples and pears. And where one would traditionally use orange juice and brandy, we've swapped in apple cider and apple brandy, and topped it off with Gelson's Rosé.

The result is an apple-forward, lightly sweet punch the color of a peachy sunset. Your guests will love it. They may even ask you for a spoon to fish out the boozy fruit, which stays crisp and sweet in the bottom of the glass.

Our tips: Use a filtered apple cider; it has a lighter flavor, and it will look prettier in your sangria. And make and chill your sangria well ahead of the party, so all the flavors have time to meld, and you don't have to serve it with ice.